Clarisse d'Arcimoles - Contemporary Artists

Carnaval (My Brother)

Clarisse d'Arcimoles

Carnaval (My Brother)

2009
Archival Inkjet print

31 x 42.5 cm

Each of these works by Clarisse d’Arcimoles consists of a photograph from her family album and a picture of the same person taken in 2009 in a scene that’s been exactly reproduced. “I called this series Un-possible retour, which means ‘a possible impossible return’,” D’Arcimoles says. “I grew up partly in French Guyana so in the photos I was re-staging, the location sometimes had changed or become inaccessible and the objects and surroundings could not always be found or re-made. But while the people had grown up, aged and changed, I could feel a certain sense of permanence in them. This photograph is my brother at the carnival; to recreate the image I had to repaint the background and find the same costume. I sometimes make the clothing myself, or when it is too complicated to find a similar fabric I ask a tailor. Even if for my family it has been somewhat tiresome to cooperate for these photos, they really enjoyed it.”